Simple Modular Bioreactors for Tissue Engineering: A System for Characterization of Oxygen Gradients, Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation, and Prevascularization

Large-scale tissue engineering is limited by nutrient perfusion and mass transport limitations, especially oxygen diffusion, which restrict construct development to smaller than clinically relevant dimensions and limit the ability for in vivo integration. The goal of this work was to develop a modular approach to tissue engineering, where scaffold and tissue size, transport issues, and surgical implantation in vivo are considered from the outset. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were used as the model cell type, as their differentiation has been studied for several different cell lineages and often with conflicting results. Changes in the expression profiles of hMSCs differentiated under varied oxygen tensions are presented, demonstrating tissue-specific oxygen requirements for both adipogenic (20% O₂) and chondrogenic (5% O₂) differentiation. Oxygen and nutrient transport were enhanced by developing a bioreactor system for perfusing hMSC-seeded collagen gels using porous silk tubes, resulting in enhanced oxygen transport and cell viability within the gels. These systems are simple to use and scaled for versatility, to allow for the systematic study of relationships between cell content, oxygen, and cell function. The data may be combined with oxygen transport modeling to derive minimally sized modular units for construction of clinically relevant tissue-engineered constructs, a generic strategy that may be employed for vascularized target tissues.